Attendees at the last Fernandina Beach City Commission meeting staged a silent protest against what they see as hate speech by a woman protesting LBGTQ events in the city.
Kelly Yates has spoken at several city commission meetings addressing the Pride Festival held in Central Park, which is preceded by a parade downtown. Yates claims the event is held at the park specifically to attract children.
“(It is) child exploitation that we are witnessing at these hedonistic adult lifestyle events,” Yates said, saying the event has the goal of “sexualization, indoctrination and medicalization of children.”
Yates has spoken at prior city commission meetings, asking the commission to deny permits for Pride events. She is also part of an effort to pass laws that would require attendees at Pride events to provide their ID to attend.
After she spoke at some city commission meetings, there was a public reaction on social media. A local musician made a video that sampled some of Yates’ speeches and set it to music. He asked people to contribute to the Fernandina Beach Pride scholarship fund in Yates’ name and raised thousands of dollars for that fund. As is customary, Fernandina Beach Pride sent Yates letters to thank her for the contributions. She brought a stack of these letters to a city commission meeting, claiming she was being “harassed” by Fernandina Beach Pride.
At the Feb. 4 city commission meeting, Yates shared several examples of what she called “grooming,” including a photo of some people dressed in leather that she admitted was not taken in the city and one she said was at the Pride Festival in Central Park that included a man with a leather mask covering his face.
Before Yates spoke, Mayor James Antun asked the crowd to respect her right to address the commission and to refrain from commenting aloud. As she spoke, several people at the meeting stood with their backs to Yates, making a statement about her comments.
Former Mayor Robin Lentz also spoke at the meeting, noting the community-driven work done by Fernandina Beach Pride, including adopting a highway in addition to the scholarship fund.
“I am sure the speaker … is going to give you the same hate speech that we have been receiving for weeks now,” Lentz said. “I want to share with you again how proud I am, as a member of our community, to stand with Fernandina Beach Pride, who has given out $23,000 worth of scholarships to students in our community. I thank them for the work that they do.”
“The overall suicide rate is up in Northeast Florida. I know there’s a lot of tension in our community,” Fernandina Beach resident Paul Lore said. “The one thing that secures the elimination of suicide is love, not bickering. For people, in particular for children, younger adults, a place to go. Just be careful about what we argue about. Acceptance of all, and love for all.”
jroberts@fbnewsleader.com